Virginia Hastings Production Blog

Sisters - For Hailey & Taylor

Sisters
For Hailey & Taylor

The last couple of days I found myself in Toronto with my ‘littlest’ sister, Taylor. At the ripe old age of nineteen, Taylor recently moved to the Big Smoke to pursue her new career as a hairdresser. She has a great first apartment in the ‘Upper Village’ - good neighbourhood, clean, alongside many parks, and close to everything her heart desires…or will desire as her bank account grows.

It is insanely surreal to me that Taylor is just now getting to this stage in her life. I on the other hand, being the ‘biggest’ sister, have already had my business for ten years, have served on the board at YWCA Muskoka for nine years, have lived in several different houses, and have owned my home for the last five years. And here she is just getting started. It does not feel as though twelve years separate us, and yet there is something reassuring about examining it this way. You can pack a lot in to twelve years. Many times over the last twelve years I have, like everyone else I know, had many ups and downs: I’ve been totally let down, heartbroken, or bummed out about a situation, wondering if this time will pass.  It always does. It always feels reassuring to look at things in this way, as I find it is easier to be optimistic about all that the future holds.

Taylor and I talked about this as we walked to dinner the other night. I explained to her, to help her enjoy every moment in her new apartment, “You have no idea where the future will lead. For all you know, this may be the only time in your life that you live completely alone. Soak it up and enjoy every moment of this time, and get to know yourself.”

When I think back to different turning points in my life, there are two that really stick out for me. The day I met Hailey, and the day I met Taylor - my sisters. When Hailey was just about ready to enter this world, my Grandma and Grandpa came to stay with me. I knew what was going on, but didn’t quite grasp it all. 

When the phone rang, I knew it was time because my Grandma started to cry, but she was so happy and excited. At six years old, I was old enough to know the difference between ‘happy’ tears, and ‘sad’ tears. I knew watching her face and excitement that it was time to go meet my sister, and her second grandchild. We left our farmhouse, got in the car, and off to the hospital we went.

I specifically remember ‘petting’ Hailey’s forehead and not really knowing how to touch her. She was so small. Everyone just kept telling me to be gentle, so I just continued to pat her on the head. There is a photo of this moment; I am incredibly awkward-looking in it. I was probably in shock. I remember not quite understanding how she got there. What I did understand was that she was my sister, and that made me happy.

Six years later Taylor came along, and Hailey & I gained another sister. She was a happy ending to a tumultuous year. Hailey adored her, I adored her. And as Taylor would tell you first hand, I think at times Hailey and I often got Taylor mixed up with our dolls, dressing her up, putting her in our Fisher-Price doll strollers. In our defense, she was smaller than us, and very portable. Lol.

In my opinion, there are few advantages of being the ‘biggest’ sister. It is hard work being the oldest sibling; no matter who I talk to we all seem to feel the same way. We were responsible for paving the way, and taking pauses here and there as our parents decided how to best handle each situation, designing rules and structure as they went. Each experience for them as parents was a new one. It is a lot of work being the oldest….and yes, I am being serious! But I will say, one advantage that I had over my sisters is that I actually remember those two days - two days that regardless of the natural differences between us and the eventual unavoidable sibling rivalry, changed my life in a most positive way.

Life is full of ‘life.’ It’s busy, it’s fun as hell and sometimes it’s not. Sometimes siblings can get their feathers ruffled (but who doesn’t). It’s a constant learning curve; one big adventure; sometimes days are easy and others seem like they are full of hard work. But one thing I know for certain is that as the years go by, our age differences depreciate in value. It is so calming to know that regardless of where we are in our lives, if we ever really need one another for anything, we are only ever a phone call away. And that is - as they say - priceless.